


anything could happen

by MaddieandChimney



Series: Meet Cutes [14]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:42:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27436033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieandChimney/pseuds/MaddieandChimney
Summary: Their hands reach for the Buzz costume at the same time, neither of them wanting to let their four year old son's down on Halloween.
Relationships: Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Series: Meet Cutes [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1927492
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

It’s with relief that she finds herself reaching for the very last Buzz Lightyear costume, her hand just managing to clasp onto the material at the very same second another hand does. No, not today, perhaps any other day she would have just given in and found something else but this is a promise she made to her son and she’s already let him down by waiting until the night before Halloween to even look for a costume in the first place.

“I grabbed it first.” She’s all too quick to point out, even if it’s not entirely the truth but she’s staring at the exhausted looking man next to her with a glare on her face, letting out an annoyed huff when she realises he hasn’t let go of the fabric yet.

“I think you’ll find I grabbed it first.” If that’s how he’s going to play it, her glare settles on him and she tightens her grip on the pant leg of the tiny costume, just as he does the same.

This wasn’t how she saw this going, she just wanted to get into the shop (the fifth she had tried) and grab the costume her four-year-old son had been absolutely begging her for and then quickly get home to tuck him in before he went to bed. She wanted to be able to tell him that yes, he absolutely could go trick or treating dressed as Buzz, just as he had asked her the year before when she had forgotten then, too. When the stubbornness isn’t working and her glare is met with one of equal ferocity, she realises she’s not exactly opposed to emotional manipulation when it comes to giving her son something he wants.

It’s easy to find the tears that sting her eyes as she bites down on her bottom lip and looks at him with big, brown eyes, “My son really wants this costume.” She tries, but he quickly shakes his head and it seems as though his grip relents but only for a second until he yanks the costume a little closer to him.

“And _my_ son really wants this costume.” Okay, so the sob story really isn’t going to work and neither are the puppy eyes she’s trying to shoot his way because as much as a mother will do anything for her little boy, she’s sure a father will, too.

“Well, _my_ son has been begging to be Buzz since last Halloween and I really don’t want to be the mom who lets him down two years in a row.” The sympathy card is worth trying, right? Even if she can see it’s not really washing with him, although she does see the doubt in his face for just a second and maybe it’s going to be easier to get him to give in. If all else fails, she considers the possibility of whether flirting a little might help, or at least might distract him enough to loosen his grip, so she can run out of there.

It’s with an annoyed sigh that he shakes his head, “So I should let my son down so you don’t let yours down? Maybe mine has been wanting to be Buzz for three years.”

“Well, there’s plenty of Woody costumes….”

“Yes there is, so why don’t you grab your child one of them?” Now she can see why parents go crazy at Christmas and punch each other in stores over gifts, having treated far too many screaming parents in her time as a nurse. Neither of them say another word for a moment, their eyes remaining on each other, her nostrils flared in anger, his forehead wrinkling as his frown deepens.

He’s the first to let go and somehow it doesn’t bring her the satisfaction she thought it would when she sees the disappointment in his eyes as he does, the frown so quickly forgotten and his shoulders slumping. “There’s still a few shops I haven’t looked around yet, got an hour until they close.” Perhaps it’s the fact he sounds so disappointed, or the fact she’s sure she can see tears forming in his eyes that causes her to drop her own grip on the costume, knowing that nowhere is going to have what they both need at this point.

“You know what, Max is four—I’ll just buy some extra candy and he can go as a firefighter, he’s obsessed since his Uncle started training.” The man’s eyes linger over the costume for a second and she wonders if he’s going to grab it and run before he shrugs his shoulders and moves behind him to grab the Woody costume she had pointed out before.

There’s a small smile on his face when he turns to her, “Same age as Kevin, I’ll bribe him with candy, too.” He looks kind when he smiles and she nods her head, hating how relieved she feels that neither boy is going to be happy at the expense of the other, even if they’ll never know it. “I’m a firefighter,” He starts and she tilts her head to the side, prompting him to continue, “we uh, do this thing every year, candy… show the kids around the trucks and the station, you know? You should pop by with… Max, was it? It’s the 118.”

Maddie grins, nodding her head before she extends her hand out, their eyes meeting when he presses his hand to hers and shakes it, “I’m Maddie Buckley.”

“Howie Han.”


	2. Chapter 2

Thankfully, the firefighter costume had gone down a hit with her son, although now his fixation was on the fact that an old pair of scrubs covered in fake blood did _not_ count as a costume. He was four-years-old though and mercifully his attention on his mother’s ‘not costume’ was quickly diverted the second they walked into the fire station.

He’s a little too quick to let go of her hand, causing her to pout just a little when she remembers the little boy who would literally cling to her leg but there’s a smile on her lips when she hears the voice of the man she’d had a rather different encounter with the evening before, “You made it.”

“I did.” Her eyes dart down to settle on the little boy who is glancing up at her, dressed in the Woody costume, looking more than a little adorable and strikingly similar to his dad. He has a lop-sided grin on his face, smiling at her in the same way Howie was right then as she kneels down, “You must be Kevin,” When he nods, she laughs, “you are the best looking Woody I have ever seen. I’m Maddie and—” She looks around, trying to lay eyes on her own son, beckoning him back over to them when she catches his eye from where he’d settled right next to where all the candy was. “—this is Max.”

The curly-haired boy runs over to them, holding onto the helmet that was far too big for his head as he does before he looks from the man with a frown and scrunch of his nose and then at the little boy standing in front of Maddie. “Max, this is Kevin and Howie.” There’s a little arm wrapped around her leg within seconds after she moves to stand back up and she shouldn’t be surprised, not really. It had been over four years since her husband had died and for a long while, it had only been her and Max and then she moved to LA and went on one or two dates over the last year, for her son to become stroppy and clingy and for her to tell her brother that it just wasn’t the right time yet.

“Nice to meet you, Max.” The firefighter’s voice is gentle, outstretching his hand, to bet with the stubborn glare of her child, a second arm joining the one already wrapped around her leg as he shakes his head.

Maddie can feel her cheeks flushing in mild embarrassment, especially because Kevin is looking at her in complete awe with the biggest smile on his face whilst her son glares at his father. At least it doesn’t seem to phase Howie in the slightest, his hand dropping to rest against his own son’s head, “Kevin, why don’t you take Max here to see Uncle Bobby and show you both around the fire truck?” Little arms tighten around her leg and for a second, she’s not entirely certain he’s going to want to let go despite his initial excitement at the thought of seeing a real fire truck.

“I’ll be right here.”

“With him?”

Big, brown eyes are looking up at her and Maddie hates how the guilt pierces through her as she gulps and nods her head, “Howie and I will be talking, yes but we’re here for you to have fun, remember?” Kevin is holding out a little hand for the other little boy, patient as he smiles and then looks down at the bucket he’s holding in his other hand.

“It’s okay, we can share?” The outstretched hand is replaced by his bucket and she can tell Max is really considering it until he finally lets go of her leg and nods his head, hesitant when he steps towards the little boy and reaches for his hand instead of the candy. Until his eyes are on the nervous looking firefighter, scrunching up into a glare as he frowns.

“No funny business.” He stumbles over the words he’s heard her say to her brother far too many times when he’s out on another date, his voice low until it’s quickly forgotten and he’s running off with his new friend as they both eagerly chatter about what candy they’ve gotten already and if they want to switch any.

There’s a nervous laugh from the man as he scratches the back of his neck and she finds it endearing how his cheeks have turned a bright shade of red, even more so when she steps forward with a grin of her own. “His dad died before he was born, so it’s always been me and him, so any threat of that—even when his uncle moved to LA about a year after we did, there were some jealousy issues then… not that there’s anything to be jealous of now—I uh… just mean… he’s usually lovely.”

She wonders if it’s possible for her face to get any redder than it is right then as she bites down on her bottom lip and lets her eyes wander over to the way both boys are sitting on the floor nearest to the truck, their candy spilt out in front of them. “Kevin is adorable… is his mom around?” She feels as though she already knows the answer but it’s her not-so-subtle way of asking if there’s a woman on the scene she needs to be aware of before she falls for him on a level beyond those gorgeous eyes and the smile she’s sure she could get lost in.

“No, uh—divorced, she actually lives in another state but I have full custody of Kevin which is a terribly long story I won’t bore you with right now but… she’s not on the scene.” Maddie is a great believer in the fact that she can tell a lot about a man by the way he talks about his exes and all she can see right then is sadness in his eyes, despite the fact he’s smiling as he talks.

For a moment, she doesn’t really know what to say because ‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t seem to make the cut, although she’s heard it a thousand times over when she mentions she’s a widow. It seems easier to push past the fact that her marriage had been long over before he had died and it seems easier to avoid the subject that she was thankful every single day that her son was able to grow up in a world without the man who would have tainted him somehow. Instead, she nods her head and distracts herself with how handsome he looks in his uniform, her eyes lingering on his name badge until she brings herself to look into his eyes, “You are clearly an amazing dad, Kevin is a sweetheart.” Those are the words she finally settles on, glancing once again to check on their two sons, gulping down the lump in her throat when she sees the way Howie so eagerly nods his head.

“Max seems like a good kid, too.”

“He’s amazing, my little rock.” It’s with a nod of his head and a smile brighter than the sun that Howie is looking at her until they’re both pulled away from gazing into each other’s eyes by the sound of a new voice.

“Have you even given away any of these smoke alarms, Chimney?” Maddie’s gaze moves to the woman standing next to him, dressed in an LAFD uniform with both hands in her pockets and a smirk on her face before she’s looking Maddie up and down, an eyebrow raised as she does. “Or have you been distracted?”

Howie rolls his eyes, although the flush of his cheeks gives him away, shaking his head, “This is Maddie.”

“Oh, Buzz woman.” Internally, she cringes, although she tries to keep the smile on her face, trying not to think about what the man would have said about the entire incident the night before. Not that she could comment, considering the first thing she had done as she drove home was phone her best friend, rambling about the ‘cute but probably taken man’ with a whine. “I’m Hen, his best friend and he’s meant to give you one of these but—it appears he’s a little side tracked.” Her smirk only grows and Maddie reaches forward to take the smoke alarm from her hand as she bites down on her lip, mumbling her thanks.

“Mommy!” She’s pulled away by the sound of Max’s voice, missing the way Hen nudges Chimney’s side, waggling her eyebrows as she does. Watching as the little boy waves his hand from the fire truck to get her over there, putting one finger up as she mouths that she’ll be a minute until she’s turning around and almost slamming straight into Howie who had stepped towards her in her moment of distraction.

“I should get back to work but uh, maybe I can give you my number? You know, if Max had any firefighter questions or… you do.” She’s all too eager to unlock her phone, handing it over with a grin, not sure she’s felt _something_ for anyone so quickly in such a long time, and she’s never been one to ignore anything that makes her feel good.

When he hands it back to her, she leans forward to press her lips to his cheek, giggling when she hears a more frustrated sound of “Mommy” sounding through the large station, turning to be met with the annoyed look on her son’s face when he pokes his head from the window.

“Speak to you soon.”

“I look forward to it.”

.

Maddie bites down on her lip before she glances over at her son. Despite how much sugar he’d ingested, he’s sitting there with a frown on his face, arms wrapped tightly around the bucket he holds on his lap as he stares out the window. He’s only four but he has this intense look on his face that, for a moment, makes it easy to forget just how young he is. “Did you like Kevin?”

“He was nice.”

The response is quick as Maddie taps against the steering wheel, nodding her head, “Do you think you’d like to hang out with him again?”

Max lets out a huff and she can practically feel his glare on her as she tries to focus on driving, “I have friends.” She almost rolls her eyes before she reminds herself she’s talking to her four-year-old son and not her twenty-six-year old brother, her grip tightening on the wheel before she takes a deep breath.

“Yes, but it’s nice to make new friends and sometimes mommy’s need friends, too.” Her eyes move over to watch him as the light turns red, letting out a sigh when he cannot resist the urge to roll his eyes, a pout on his lips as he looks at her. “You didn’t like Howie?”

“No.”

Maddie can only liken this conversation to slamming her head against a brick wall, trying to remind herself that he’s her son and he can adapt and if _she_ liked Howie, then eventually, she’d sure he could win the little boy over. Usually all it took was a little bribery here and there and then he’d warm up eventually but he’s stubborn, just like she is and she can’t exactly fault him for a personality trait they both share. “What didn’t you like about him?”

All she gets is a groan, followed by the sound of him slamming his head back against the seat as he shakes his head, “Don’t wanna talk about it.” All she does is nod, knowing better than to push him even if she knows it’s something they’ll have to talk about someday, if not about Howie then about someone else because she knows there’s a chance that one day it won’t just be the two of them (well, three of them if she includes her brother who has decided to crash on her couch instead of getting his own place). Still, it’s new and currently absolutely nothing and he’s not exactly adaptable to change or all that good at sharing her attention, so she knows better than to expect a miracle.

Logically, she knows all of that but she also feels as though she needs her son’s approval before she ever tries to date someone. Although she’s not certain she will ever get that if he’s never willing to give anyone a chance.

To say she was relieved when Max finally closes his eyes and falls asleep just an hour or so later would have been an understatement. The second the subject had been changed rom Howie and their time at the station, he’d clearly given into whatever sugar high was coursing through his body and had excitedly told her anything and everything he possibly could about all the different kinds of candy he’d gotten trick or treating. Only half of which had made any sense as he was talking at about a million words a minute and it had been a nightmare trying to get him to bed until thankfully, the crash hit.

Adult time was all she craved with her brother out on _another_ date, giving her a moment of peace and quiet as he pours herself a glass of wine and shoots Howie a quick text to make sure he has her number to. One text had turned into an hour of quick texts back and forth as she found herself on her second glass of wine, a huge grin on her face when he suggests he give her a call instead until the bell goes off.

It’s stupid how much of a middle schooler she feels when his name flashes up on her phone just a few seconds after she’d agreed, her cheeks already flush when she presses the phone to her ear, “Hey.”

“Hey, long time no speak.”

The giggle that falls from her lips shouldn’t be natural but there she is, holding onto the glass of wine a little tighter with her other hand, her cheeks starting to hurt at the intensity of her smile. She’s a teenager again, experiencing her first real crush on a boy she barely knows, which is crazy because she’s thirty-one and she has a son and she shouldn’t be feeling so giggly and giddy over a man she’s known for all of twenty-four hours. “How is work?”

“Surprisingly quiet which never means anything good now that I’ve said that out loud. Did you and Max have a good Halloween?”

“We did, he finally crashed. I’m sorry about how rude he was,” She winces when she remembers how she’d said goodbye to both Kevin and Howie, only for her son to tug on her arm and pull her away, ignoring the two Han’s as he did. “he isn’t usually that way.” She doesn’t know why she’s making excuses for him, he’s a child and Howie knows better than anyone that they have a mind of their own and they don’t always act as their best selves.

“No, don’t be silly… Kevin thought he was great, they were talking all about superheroes.” There’s a pause, until he softly says, “Plus Kevin thought you were the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen and I can’t say I disagree, so…” He somehow manages to say something so confidently but awkwardly at the same time, her face flushing a dark shade of red as she shakes her head.

“You’re both very sweet.” She stops herself from apologising again, the fact that his son had been absolutely adorable and even hugged her before she left, only making the guilt intensify that Max had been less than friendly. “Max really did love it at the station, your Captain let him have the sirens on and he’s not going to stop talking about the fire truck for weeks. My brother moved to LA on a whim and the two of them haven’t stopped talking about firefighting since he decided that’s what he wanted to do with his life. He told me before he went to bed that Uncle Buck is going to be so, so jealous.”

“Uncle Buck?” There’s a snort of laughter on the other of the phone and she finds herself laughing at the same time, nodding her head.

“His name is Evan but for some reason he doesn’t like it, he’s made everyone call him Buck since he was like… eight years old and his baseball coach used to call him Buckley and my eight-year-old brother got the bright idea that Buck sounded so, so much better.” Maddie rolls her eyes at the memory of her thirteen year old self only giving in because he stubbornly stopped responding to his actual name.

There’s another snort and she bites down on her lip, grinning, “Hey, you never know, he might get assigned to your station, you’ll have to play nice.”

“And then we would have met anyway, the universe is funny like that.”

Maddie takes a sip of her wine, letting out a noise of agreement as she does, although she’s surprised she’d never noticed him wheeling a patient into the ER before. She’s entirely certain she’d have noticed the handsome paramedic or that lopsided grin on his face she can see when she closes her eyes. After a pause, he continues, “So, I hope this isn’t coming on too strong and you can say no but I’m off shift tomorrow and if you are too, maybe you want to get together? With or without the boys and whatever time you want, if you want…”

Before he can continue his awkward rambling, she interrupts, “Without the boys, for now… I think Max needs time to adjust… some space to think. Is that okay?”

“More than okay, we can take this at yours and Max’s pace…” She wonders what ‘this’ is but barely has time to consider it when she can hear the alarm ringing in the background, signalling the fact it’s time for their conversation to be over and probably time for her to crawl into bed. “I’ll get something booked and I’ll text you. Goodnight, Maddie.”

“Goodnight, Howie.” Her smile is bright when she can hear him rushing off, trying not to focus too much on how good he looked in his uniform when she’d seen him earlier that night, taking a breath as she looks down at her phone, unable to deny just how much she’s looking forward to the next day.


End file.
